Read Between the Lines
by BittersweetSonata
Summary: Bookworm. She'd always hated that nickname. Tiny-tits. That one was even worse. She knew that she was flat-chested. She had never really cared about it before. But when Soul started to tease her about it, she suddenly became insecure. Soul always figured that she would read between the lines.


Read Between the Lines

Bookworm.

She'd always hated that nickname Soul gave her. So what if she liked to read? So what if she spent hours with her nose buried in a book? So what if she actually _tried_ to get good grades? What was so _wrong _with that?

Because the truth was, she did it to escape. The world. Her papa. The divorce. Everything. She had just wanted to _escape_. Her papa used to read to her when she was young, and she really liked it. So one day, she'd picked up a book herself, and she finally found a way to escape reality.

Reading became her safe haven. It was something she could _lose herself _in. Books were wonderful things that she cherished. The library became her sanctuary, and pretty soon, she had a descent size one herself.

And then Soul had come along and started to tease her. Her head dropped int her hands. He didn't get it. That's what she'd told herself hundreds of times. She tried to ignore it, ignore him, but the truth was, he was starting to get to her.

Tiny-tits.

Her face contorted into a frown. That nickname was even worse. She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her head on top of them. She knew she was flat. Flat as a cutting board. She had never let it bother her before.

But now that Soul had pointed out the obvious and continued to tease and torment her about it, she began to feel even more insecure. At first, she couldn't figure out why. Before, she'd always Maka-chopped him in the head and they went on with their lives. But now, now it _really, really, _bothered her.

So, one night a few months ago, she had sat down on her bed and decided that she wouldn't leave her room or even pick up a book until she figured out why. She had thought long and hard about it, and truth be told, she still couldn't figure it out.

Finally, giving up, she had flopped down on her bed when, something caught her eye. It was a book. A novel to be exact. A romance novel. She laid there and stared at it for the longest time. Suddenly, she sat up, eyes wide.

She knew why she always got a sick feeling in her stomach when she saw fangirls staring at Soul. She knew why she got a jealous feeling when the partner request letters piled out of his locker whenever he opened it. She knew why she felt a funny little warm feeling every time he looked at her, smiled at her. And not his 'cool' lazy smirk. His real smile.

Maka loved Soul's real smile. And she was pretty sure she's the only one that's ever seen it. Soul only smiles like that when he's not with their friends or around school. It doesn't even happen very often, but, when it did, it was usually because of her.

Shoot. She was even starting to think his smirks were becoming attractive. But she wouldn't melt into a pathetic puddle of fangirl when he did truly smile or when he smirked. No, his fangirls had that pretty well covered.

She knew why she loved hanging out with him. Whether it was at home, at school, or with their friends. They went out for dinner sometimes, just the two of them, and she loved those times as well. She never really understood before.

But she knew now. And, honestly, she wondered how she could have been so _stupid_. Why she felt insecure about her figure and her habits. Why she got the sick feeling in her stomach when the fangirls stared at him, along with why she felt jealous.

She knew why she was starting to think his smirk was one of the most attractive things ever. She knew why she loved his smile. She knew why she loved spending time with him. Truthfully, it wasn't very hard to figure out, she'd just been so _blind_.

Yes. She knew. And the truth scared her.

She, Maka Albarn, was in _love_ with Soul 'Eater' Evans.

And, believe me, it wasn't just a crush. It may have started out that way, she'll probably never know. I'm talking full-blown-madly-in-love. Maka panicked. She fell off her bed, knocking over the lamp on her nightstand.

Fortunately, the lamp didn't break. Unfortunately, Soul was home, and, upon hearing a loud 'bang' followed by an even louder 'crash' coming from Maka's room, rushed to her door. It hadn't been locked and he threw the door open.

Only what he found was in no way what he was expecting. Instead of finding a kishin, or some burglar in her room, he found Maka sitting on the floor. She had the deepest blush on her face and, laying next to her on the floor, was her lamp.

It had taken a lot of explaining to get him to leave her in peace. Mind you, she left out the part about realizing she was in love with him. She had told him that she tripped on her rug and accidentally knocked her lamp off the nightstand.

He hadn't really looked like he had bought her story. But, luckily for her, he chose to just go with it and with a warning to be more careful next time, he had left her in peace. Or, at least to her thoughts. So, from that day forward, she decided that she would keep her feelings a secret, from Soul, from her Papa, and from her friends.

_'It's getting harder. I don't know how much longer I can do this.' _she thought as a tear trickled down her cheek. _'Soul doesn't seem like he would take any interest in me. Sure he protects me with his life.' _a pang of guilt shot through her chest. _'But that is a weapon's duty. Besides, any guy would take a curvy bodied woman or girl over a flat-chested bookworm any day.'_

Soul was laying on the couch, flipping through the TV channels. He sighed. There was nothing on TV that was interesting to him. He had seen that a documentary was playing on one of the channels, and, if Maka were out here with him, she would want to watch that.

But Maka was in her room. She had gone straight to it when they got home, telling him she would be out to make dinner in a while. Then, she had shut the door and he hadn't heard a word from her since.

It was starting to worry him. She had been like this for the past week. She always looked so tired and she seemed so depressed. She looked like a little lost puppy sometimes. But whenever he asked her about it, she would just give him a pathetic excuse for a smile and tell him it was no big deal, she was just tired.

He growled. He went along with it, but he didn't really buy it. Something was wrong. Maka was never like that. She hadn't even Maka-chopped him once this week. He narrowed his eyes. He knew something was _definitely _wrong.

She usually told him her problems, and he was happy to listen. He may not look like he cares, but he really does. He loves her after all. From the moment he saw her, he knew she was different from other girls.

And, over time, he began to fall for her, even though it was so uncool. He finally realized that he loved her in Italy, when they were fighting Crona and Ragnarok. He put his life on the line for her, but he didn't mind. He loved her, and he would always protect her.

He loved to tease her. She had the cutest expression when she was mad at him. Although, he didn't really appreciate the Maka-chops he received in response. He had come up with nicknames like bookworm and tiny-tits because of that. Liz would probably call it 'flirting'.

His eyes wandered to the hallway. Her door way was just out of his vision. He clenched his fists. Enough was enough. He _would_ find out what was wrong. He stood up and walked to her door. He lifted his fist and knocked.

"Maka, open the door. We need to talk."

She froze. Her breath hitched. Her tear filled eyes wide. Heck, even her tears stopped right where they were. What would she do? If he saw her like this, he would know something was wrong. She had to wipe her tears away, so he wouldn't see. But she couldn't, her body wouldn't respond.

Her heart pounded so loud, she was sure he could hear it. Suddenly, her body could move again and she quickly wiped her tears and grabbed a book, opening it and pretending she was reading. "Alright, come in."

The door opened, and Soul stepped into the room. He took one look at her and said, "Maka, tell me what's wrong."

Maka looked up with an innocent and confused look on her face, but really, she was a nervous wreck. "What do you mean, Soul?"

He narrowed his eyes. She would go for it. He would have to try a different approach. He sat on the edge of her bed and looked her in the eye. "You've been shutting yourself up in your room a lot lately, Maka. It's not like you. You seem all sad and depressed and you look like a lost puppy."

Maka mentally kicked herself. Of course he would notice. He _lived _with her. He knew her better than she knew herself. Crap. Did that mean he knew she was in love with him? Oh no. No no no no no no. He couldn't know. She didn't want him to know. This was bad. This was very, very, _very bad._

She laughed nervously. "What are you talking about? I'm not acting any different from before."

Soul narrowed his eyes again and growled. This was much more difficult than he expected. "Maka, you haven't Maka-chopped me in a week. Something's wrong."

Again. Crap. "Well, I uh, I just thought that you needed a break from it. Wouldn't want you to get brain damage would we?" her voice rose an octave and she mentally cursed herself. She _knew _he wouldn't buy that terrible excuse.

Despite popular belief, Soul was actually pretty smart. He just saw no importance in keeping up his grades, and Maka knew that. "Oh, then why have you been shutting yourself up in your room all week?" he asked her.

She couldn't tell him that she was crying and thinking about him. Never. She had to think of an excuse! "I'm reading a very good book, and I wanted to finish it." she looked down at the book she had hastily picked up and gulped. She didn't even know the title. And, she could have finished a one thousand page book in about roughly, two or three hours. Soul knew that.

Soul looked at the book, then back at her. "Maka, you're reading it upside down."

Maka slowly turned the book around and looked at the cover. Sure enough, it was upside down. "I was trying to read upside down?" Honestly, she didn't even know anymore. She wondered if she should just jump out her window and go hang herself.

Soul looked a bit disturbed. And not convinced in the least. Well, he didn't believe her. This was her end. Goodbye Soul. Goodbye Black*Star. Goodbye Tsubaki. Goodbye Kid, Liz, and Patty. Goodbye Lord Death. Goodbye Crona and Ragnarok. Goodbye miserable world and Soul's crazy fangirls.

She saluted, not even looking at Soul, but to the people she was imagining. Soul went from worried to extremely worried. She looked back at him. He cleared his throat. "Uh, so, you want to tell me why you're really locking yourself up in your room?"

She sighed. It didn't matter anymore. "You."

He looked startled. "Me? What do you mean?"

She hung her head. "I've been locking myself in my room because of you."

Soul didn't know what to say. _He _was why Maka had been acting so, so, so un-Maka like. She looked up at him and sighed again. He looked really hurt and she decided she needed to clear this issue up once and for all.

"You know how you always call me names, like bookworm and tiny-tits? Well, it's been getting to me lately. Just because I'm flat chested and I like to read and keep my grades up, doesn't give you the right to call me those things!"

Soul opened his mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. She had taken his teasing the totally wrong way. Finally, he was able to use his vocal cords once again. "But, Maka, I never meant it that way."

She looked confused. "I'm sorry. What?"

"I-I never meant to hurt your feelings. I just, you, your just so cute when you get mad and so, yeah." Well, that was officially the worst way to tell her. Soul groaned.

"You, you think I'm cute?" Maka blushed.

"Well, yeah." Soul awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "I always thought you'd be able to read between the lines. But, Maka, truth is, you're really dense."

Maka sat there in shock. "I really like your smile." she said quietly.

But Soul heard it and his eyes widened. He never thought she felt the same way about him, but now, he wasn't so sure.

"I have something to confess." she said. Her hands were shaking and she looked like she was about to cry.

"I love you." they both said at the same time.

The two of them looked up at each other in shock. They sat there, trying to process what the other had just said. Soul was the first to recover. "Did you just say that? Do you really mean that?"

"Of course you idiot! Why would I say something I didn't mean?! There's no point in that!" Maka smacked him square on the head with the book who's title she still didn't know. "Maka-chop!"

Soul, who had been on the receiving end of an exceptionally hard Maka-chop, fell to the floor, unconscious. Maka, realizing what she had just done, fell off the bed in he hurry to get to him. She quickly recovered and crawled over to him.

"Soul! Soul! Wake up! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! Don't die! Please don't die!" she cried, grasping his shirt tightly.

She felt him stir and heard a moan. "Ow. What was that for?"

She scrambled back off him so he could sit up. He rubbed his head and looked at her. "I-uh, I'm sorry. It just kind of...happened."

He smiled at her. A real smile. "Oh, and, by the way Maka, I won't be dying any time soon." A bright pink blush spread across her face and he pulled her to him. "You're much to important to me. I can't just die and leave you all alone." he whispered in her ear.

Then, he kissed her. It was soft, and full of passion, and Maka wrapped her arms around Soul's neck. He pulled her closer to him. Finally, the need for air caused them to break apart. Soul smirked at her.

"Oh, and next time Maka, you should _really _read between the lines."

He pulled her into another kiss before she could hit him again. Not that she minded of course.


End file.
